Opportunity is king in fantasy football, and chasing target volume has always been a winning strategy — especially in PPR leagues. PFF premium stats offers proprietary data that goes well beyond the box score, including routes run for every player on the depth chart.
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Targeting players who are running a high percentage of routes is a good strategy for identifying breakout candidates, DFS targets and the best waiver wire pickups. This weekly report will look at the previous week's rate of routes run per dropback compared to larger samples to find sleeper running backs, wide receivers and tight ends who are garnering more or less opportunities in the passing game heading into Week 9.
Last week's article highlighted the likes of Michael Pittman Jr., Deebo Samuel, Tee Higgins, Van Jefferson and Michael Carter as players whose receiving usage was likely to transform into fantasy production sooner than later.
This data does not include the Monday Night Football game between the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Rate of routes run per dropback | Weeks 1-8
| Player | Routes run | % of routes run per dropback |
| Adam Thielen | 309 | 98% |
| Michael Pittman Jr. | 324 | 97% |
| Terry McLaurin | 331 | 96% |
| Ja'Marr Chase | 275 | 95% |
| Cooper Kupp | 288 | 95% |
| D.J. Moore | 323 | 94% |
| Brandin Cooks | 289 | 94% |
| Zach Pascal | 313 | 94% |
| Jakobi Meyers | 310 | 94% |
| Tyler Lockett | 259 | 94% |
| DeVonta Smith | 311 | 93% |
| Justin Jefferson | 295 | 93% |
| Chris Godwin | 352 | 92% |
| Keenan Allen | 303 | 92% |
| Marvin Jones Jr. | 289 | 92% |
| Robert Woods | 277 | 91% |
| Darnell Mooney | 262 | 91% |
| Deebo Samuel | 238 | 91% |
| Robby Anderson | 311 | 91% |
Buy D.J. Moore. The fourth-year stud is one of only three wide receivers this season to rank top-six in both percentage of routes run per dropback (94%) and target share (27%).
Michael Pittman Jr. will not be denied his second-year breakout. The Colts second-year wide receiver put together his best performance of the season in Week 8, posting 10 catches for 86 receiving yards and two touchdowns on a whopping 17 targets.
He has officially achieved alpha status in the Indianapolis offense, and his second-ranked 97% rate of routes per dropback suggests his production will continue to stay high.
Rate of routes run per dropback | Last four weeks
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